Why Women Won’t Go to the Shooting Range

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George P

George P

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https://www.usconcealedcarry.com/why-women-wont-go-to-the-shooting-range/

But I can tell you one reason that comes up in conversations a lot. It’s something that many females inquire about, and it’s something that may keep them from fully enjoying training, competition or just the camaraderie of shooting with family, friends or even strangers. Want to know what that reason is? Believe it or not, it’s the restroom facilities … or the lack thereof.
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And it is even worse at outdoor ranges, you guys that have a range, or want to have one, or want to take your better half, pay attention!
 
When I was in SW Va there were lots of women who went to the free outdoor range at the National Forest. Yes compared to the guys the percentage was low at maybe 10% but it was nice to see couples out shooting together.

Personally I think we need to encourage more women to join us. The hard part for many guys is being patient, and checking the ego at the door so it’s fun for the ladies.
 
Thanks for posting. More than 15 years ago, back when I thought I had money, I offered to give the National Muzzleloading Rifle Association 25K to repair the existing restroom or build new ones because my late wife and several other female friends had commented on how bad the existing one was. It was so bad that they didn't really need any signs direction people to the restroom; you could smell it from 200 ft away. When I made the offer to the board members they all looked at me like I was crazy and then at each other before one of them turned to me and said, "why would we need that, we already got a ****ter." I just walked out, went home and wrote my letter of resignation.
 
drk1: Guys with no class at all don't care about what other people think. And this often has nothing to do with where they live or what cars they drive.

You had better hope that none of them are on the board or mgmt. of your future retirement home. The best of them have no "aroma" when you walk in, but the others...….

The men's rooms at our private shooting club are better than any (US) gas station restrooms I've seen in recent years, and it's likely that the lady's rooms are even better than the men's.
 
I have zero doubt about the connection between clean, serviceable restrooms and female attendance at gun ranges. I've been married almost 25 years, and one of the only statements that I can make in this life with absolute, 100% certainty is this: If the bathrooms at a range suck, Mrs. McGee will not go. When I hear about a range I haven't been to, I go scout and make it a point to go to the restroom so that I can at least assess the condition of the men's room.
 
All true. At my range you have to step "behind" a few trees. I have never seen a woman go back to that area and I have seen very young girls refuse to go there when dads just say "go behind the trees."

Obviously this is for water only.....
 
It all depends on the woman. I off road motorcycles with a mixed group, the women will go behind the trees just like the guys do. One of them openly declared she didn't give a ****e if anyone wanted to look.

But indoors, I'm sometimes offended myself by the condition of certain public restrooms, and I'm not even putting my butt down on a seat.
 
The club I belong to has great restrooms. The issues with women shooting is intimidation shooting with men, not feeling foolish. We've gone to women only, introduction to x events to help women get comfortable before shooting the organized event. The turn out to these has been fantastic.
 
The outdoor rifle range and the indoor range I frequent both have great restrooms. My wife often accompanies and shoots with me.
 
Our closest DNR-run outdoor range is going through very expensive expansion/renovation. Expansion to 100 yards, new expanded parking area, all new covered structures for shooting and waiting, classroom and office building AND new "real" indoor bathrooms. The old one (single) was basically an outhouse over a septic tank, very much like a bathroom on a charter bus. EVERYONE will appreciate the new bathrooms.

It will open in February. I can't wait, because I really dislike going to (and paying for) indoor ranges, though we have 2 close by.
 
Every single time she's gone to a range my wife has mentioned the noise from rifles hurting her ears. Usually I'll hear about it multiple times, even after doubling up on plugs and ear muffs.

I've only ever heard about bad bathrooms a couple times in 26 years of being together. About the same number of times I've seen Gunstore employees try to be rude to her or act in a condescending manner just because she was a woman. Both times I've just told them we'd be sure to go someplace else next time we wanted to buy something and left.

Yeah, the plumbing is different, but women are like guys in that they often just make do.

Just saying .... change the NFA to make suppressors to be more available, upgrade the bathroom facilities and if some of you would quit acting like you're Gods gift to guns then you might get more women.
 
Browning said:
Every single time she's gone to a range my wife has mentioned the noise from rifles hurting her ears. Usually I'll hear about it multiple times, even after doubling up on plugs and ear muffs.

I've only ever heard about bad bathrooms a couple times in 26 years of being together. About the same number of times I've seen Gunstore employees try to be rude to her or act in a condescending manner just because she was a woman. Both times I've just told them we'd be sure to go someplace else next time we wanted to buy something and left.

Yeah, the plumbing is different, but women are like guys in that they often just make do.

Just saying .... change the NFA to make suppressors to be more available, upgrade the bathroom facilities and if some of you would quit acting like you're Gods gift to guns then you might get more women.
Click to expand...

Amen.
 
Restrooms!....the first thought that ran through my mind after seeing the thread title.

Our local club ran about 300 members with gun ranges, camping, fishing, etc. Guys all went behind the shooting range shacks when the need arose. Wanting to increase membership, we bought four outdoor portable toilets and contracted for weekly service. In less than two years we were running 900-to-1000 for membership.

If you have 300 guys in the club.....each has a wife or girl friend.....now you're talking 600 people. Kids generally follow the women. If each of those couples have 1.5 kids (national average).....not hard to follow the numbers.
 
The older ranges around here have updated their restrooms and the new ones have sparkling clean restrooms. One day a week they have Seniors day at half price.

Since we shoot outdoors on a farm there are no facilities when we're there. A restaurant a mile down the road has restrooms but they are certainly not sparkling clean. We try to go before we go shooting but men do have an easier job of paying the rent on coffee than women;
 
An industry trade magazine reported years ago that ranges that added clean restroom facilities for women, had a 20 % increase in business. So this has been out there for years.

Another problem is stupid males trying to instruct young females in manners that are unwanted or down right creepy. In our matches, we are sensitive to that and if you do, you go away.

We've also sent homophobes and racially insensitive on their way, just saying.
 
And state parks, and campgrounds, and my camper, and my bucket dumper, and work........

Even I don't like messy bathrooms, or none at all. Do it right, or don't do it at all. The "professional" ranges that charge a fee, but look like dumps, are embarrassing.
 
The CMP has some the best facilities I’ve ever seen anywhere. They have them in the clubhouse as well at the ranges so you don’t have to drive back to the clubhouse. Wife and daughter likes to go to the range.
 
Where we live, we do a lot of shooting off our rear deck. My wife does a good job of keeping the bathroom clean and installing fresh rolls of toilet paper on the roller thing.:D:D:D
Just kidding folks. We can legally and safely shoot off our rear deck, but we usually don't. We usually drive 2 miles down to a county gravel pit to do our shooting. Sometimes if the county is working that pit, there's a port-a-potty there. But we always drive down to the other end of the pit anyway, so it would be about a 300 yard walk back to the port-a-potty...we just go around on the other side of the truck when we need to go.
Oh, and about that "my wife does a good job of cleaning the bathroom" thing - I retired 7 or 8 years before my wife did, and I got real good at cleaning the house, doing the laundry, and having dinner ready...just like she did when she was a stay-at-home mom and spouse.:)
 
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